PS4 Shortages For The First Four Months

The Playstation 4 success story may come to a slow but steady halt, should they fail to supply and demand. With the PS3, Sony managed to win over many European territories. However the UK isn’t quite one of them. Microsoft and their 360 console are the league leaders as far as the UK is concerned and it is Sony’s European boss Jim Ryan who is most concerned about this.

Should PS4 sell out well before Christmas and also see supply dry up for a further four months, Microsoft may have a golden opportunity to steal sales with their Xbox One. Anyone desperate for a next gen console who is unable to obtain a PS4 might just sway over to the other side to see their gaming demands met. With Japan not receiving their PS4’s until 2014, Jim Ryan is fighting to ensure the UK market can meet the demand. A demand Sony have severely underestimated. Playstation UK Chief Fergal Gara went on to explain the situation to MCV;

We are right in the throes of discussing which territories every last unit goes……We have a very, very ambitious plan with 32 countries in mind. And we are talking pre-orders levels that we have never seen before in our 20 years in this business. Any forecast that I provided a few months back are now redundant and far too small.

We are very excited. We are very pleased to see such a shift towards PlayStation. But we now need to think about the gamer, our retail partners and manage those expectations as much as possible.

It is pretty inevitable that demand will outstrip supply. It’s a good problem to have, but also a tricky one.”

Further more Sony went on to reveal potentially more damaging news. According to Eurogamer every PS4 unit will sell at a loss. The Playstation 3 also followed this tactic and saw Sony on a knife edge until Kaz Hirai swoop in and turn the companies fortunes around. Could we see a repeat? Apparently not. Sony expect to reclaim the small deficit per unit by ensuring that every customer purchases one game and Playstation Plus membership with every PS4 sale.

This shouldn’t be a tough feat to overcome as everyone who purchases a PS4 will want to play at least one game on the new console, coupled by the fact that the PS4 requires you to subscribe to Playstation Plus, just to play multiplayer online. Sony’s Chief Financial Officer also went on to state

The PS4 features PC-like architecture – as opposed to the custom components featured inside the PS3 – the cost of production is “much, much smaller.

So have you pre-ordered a PS4 or Xbox One? Who do you think is in the best position to win the console war? Will these potential shortages hurt Sony or bolster their reputation as a company that can seriously shift units? Tell us your thoughts.